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COMPTE RENDU OF THE ALFORT SCHOOL 
The bitch that was subjected to the former mode of operation 
suffered much, and for a long time : indeed, we feared that we 
should lose her. The second suffered comparatively little. At 
present, we certainly give the preference to the latter mode of pro- 
cedure. 
A stranger presented himself at our school in the month of May, 
in the last year, and requested us to try upon a dog a styptic — un 
moyen hemostatique — of his own invention. It was a liquid, 
limpid, colourless, and without appreciable smell or taste. We 
were induced to comply with his desire by the hope of benefitting 
our science by some valuable discovery. We experimented on 
the carotid before its division, and, it being denuded and isolated 
from the pneumo-gastric nerve, it was opened by dividing it. The 
experimenter immediately applied on the two orifices little pledgets 
of tow, thoroughly wetted with this liquid. They were retained 
in their situation for one or two minutes, and then the blood ceased 
to flow. It cannot be denied that this liquid possesses a most valua- 
ble property; but we know that alcohol, cold saline solutions, 
styptics, and absorbents, such as lycoperdon, agaric, &c. seconded 
by compression, are sufficient, in a great number of cases, to arrest 
arterial haemorrhages in these animals. 
In order to judge of the comparative effect of these substances, 
employed in similar circumstances, we procured some alcohol at 
36 degrees of strength, and, having saturated some pledgets with 
it, we applied them to the ends of the divided carotid, and, as in 
the last experiment, we kept them on the edges of the vessel 
during the same space of time. This dog lost very little blood ; 
the wound rapidly healed ; and the animal was perfectly well fif- 
teen days afterwards. 
A third dog was submitted to the same experiment, but the 
lycoperdon was employed. . He lost a large quantity of blood, on 
account of the difficulty that was found in placing the styptic im- 
mediately over the wounded vessel, and retaining it there. Never- 
theless the haemorrhage was arrested. The dog lived two days, 
and then died, seemingly from the debility which necessarily fol- 
lowed the loss of so great a quantity of blood. 
In determining, then, the value of the liquid prepared by our 
experimenter in arresting haemorrhage of the dog, we must say 
that alcohol possesses the same property, and to the same degree ; 
lycoperdon possesses analogous properties, but not to so great a 
degree ; while other tonics of a similar kind, and even saline and 
refrigerant solutions, especially if their power is aided by com- 
pression, are styptics almost as sure as his. It is well known that 
the plastic power of the blood is greater, and the progress of cica- 
trization more active, in animals than in man ; therefore, although it 
